


(Learn to) Love Again

by ishipslashotpsbye



Category: Men's Football RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Day Two: Other Sports/Careers, Florist Cristiano, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Build, attempt at romance and fluff, cressiweek2k18, tattoo artist leo, there's plot y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 19:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16165925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishipslashotpsbye/pseuds/ishipslashotpsbye
Summary: “What about this, what does this mean?” Cris pointed the all-black on his left calf.Leo just smiled, “It was for another time to tell,” he had said with eyes cast down..“This is weird, Cris,” Leo had said, with a smile he couldn’t resist, the very first time Cris gave him bouquet of beautiful lavender roses..or a Florist and Tattoo Artist AU no one asked for ! :)





	(Learn to) Love Again

**Author's Note:**

> i only planned this to be a short fluff fic. but i accidentally went overboard so here it is, hope you like it!  
> i'm sorry for any mistakes done- probably a lot- because english is not my first language :) and any spanish/portuguese in this fic were courtesy of google translate uwu  
> kudos and comments will be very much appreciated!  
> enjoy! :)

Cris stared proudly at the newly decorated storefront before him. He had prepared all this for quite a long time and here he’s now, standing proudly in front of his new flower shop in Barcelona.

Katia had laughed her ass off when Cris told her he’s going to name his flowershop ‘CR7’s’—Hell, she nearly died of laughter when he said he wanted to open a damn flower shop. _“It was out of nowhere!”_ she had said. Stil, she supported him up until now.

And anyway, what she said wasn’t entirely true.

Cris had just turned 13 when he walked pass the most beautiful flower shop in Lisbon. He remembered feeling very sad that day, having to celebrate his birthday alone in this big city instead of with his family back home in Funchal because of his Father’s boss. Cris had been forced to move to Lisbon because of his talent in football, which he really hated then, but he wanted to keep his scholarship so he bear with it.

An old lady with grey hair and kind hazel eyes had been arranging her flowers when he accidently kicked one of her bouquet with his ball. She didn’t get angry though, she had asked him what’s wrong and invited him for an afternoon tea.

_“My husband had taught me about flowers, it’s meaning and beauty. We built this shop together, we grew the flowers by ourselves back home, this place hold such a dear memory to me,_ Nino,”

_“Where is he now,_ Avô _?_ _”_

_“Up there, in a beautiful place already. He’s watching me quietly and laughing when I mess the flower arrangement or when I forget to finish a customer’s order,”_

Cris had helped her almost every day after that, he came to her shop after school and practice, visited her on the weekends to help her tend her garden.  She had become an amazing parent figure for him, and he never had to celebrate his birthday alone again.

He was 19 when she passed away. Cris had been with her on her deathbed, holding her hands, listened to her goodbye and seeing her smile as she called her husband’s name.

That’s when his new dream had begun, and how he had managed to expand his business from Portugal to England, and now Spain, was history.

“Hey, Cris!” Cris snapped from his little throwback session when he heard a familiar voice called his name. Gerard, his friend he had known from his time in Manchester and the one who helped him establish Barcelona CR7’s (Gerard had laughed his ass off too).

“Gerard, good timing. Come help me inside with the pots,”

“Man, seriously, you haven’t even greeted me properly,” they laughed and Geri went inside to help Cris hung up the flower pots while catching up a little bit.

“How’s your shop in Madrid?”

“Sergio and Iker had been a big help, with both the shop and the garden over there. Iker also told me Sese’s opening his new patisserie business so we’re going to join our ventures together,”

“What happened with Sergio’s old job? I heard he just became the head chef about five months ago,”

“He quit. He wanted to open his own business, you know how he gets when he wants something,”

“Wow, daring move, man. But that’s what made Iker fell head over heels for that guy,”

They laughed at that, remembering how hard Sergio had chased after Iker.

“Have you heard about Sese’s new tattoo though? He’s tattooing Iker’s birthdate on his chest, below his left collarbone, that lunatic,” Cris suddenly reminded of a tattooed row of roman numbers picture Sergio sent him yesterday.

“Dude, it was no wonder coming from that Ramos. Speaking of which, have you met the parlor’s owner next to this building?”

“The tattoo parlor? No, not yet, why?”

“He’s my friend and the first person I met when I move here to Barcelona. Name’s Leo Messi, you should meet him, Cris. He’s not doing any tattoo currently though, broke his own arm couple of weeks ago,”

“That’s harsh. How’s the business going then?”

“Got his step brother covering for him.

Oh, shoot! I completely forgot, Cris, I had to pick Shak from the airport. Gotta go okay, man? See you soon, good luck with the opening!”

With that, Gerard was gone in a second. But thank God he actually helped with the pots. Cris sighed contently, tomorrow’s going to be a good day, he thought. Not to be cocky, but if someone asked him, he’d say he had done quite a great job in this business. His online reservation column was full with customer’s order for anniversaries, surprise parties, and even two wedding decoration requests. He’s going to love Barcelona.

 

.

 

Around midday, Cris had just finished stacking rolls of colorful floral wraps when a young man with an odd accented Spanish came up to him.

“Hello, excuse me, may I ask you for a help?” the young man asked with a worried gesture. “I’m from the parlor beside your shop if you’re wondering,” he added fast.

“Oh, you’re ‘Leo Messi’ Gerard talked about earlier? Nice meeting you, I’m Cris. What can I help you with?” Cris offered his hand.

The other man took his hand, shaking it firmly. “No, yes, I mean, no, I’m not Leo Messi, I’m Paulo, I’m filling in for him and that’s the problem here. I’ve gotten a missed call from Leo but when I tried to call him back he didn’t answer. I’m worried something had happened but taking the tram or the bus would take longer time. Would you mind driving me to his place?”

Cris blinked a few times, taking in the information ‘Paulo’ had given him.

“Yeah, sure, come on then,” he said then, taking off his half apron and throwing it into his backseat.

“Oh man, thanks, I really appreciate your help. Leo may be a calm person but he can be reckless at times, especially when he’s feeling helpless. Wait no, you didn’t even know Leo, I’m sorry I’m just panicking ‘cause he’s not one to ignore my call even when I’m being annoying,”

“Paulo, listen to me okay, you need to calm down first. You’ve been talking aimlessly and it won’t help the situation you’re facing. Try to talk to me, but slowly,” Cris tried and it helped quite a bit, Paulo got calmer. They chat a bit while Paulo showed him the direction to this Leo’s place. It was true though, the route was quite difficult to be reach by public transport.

“I owe you big, Cris, thank you so much,” Paulo said when they arrived. It was a beautiful low-rise baroque building with decent sized balconies.

“Do you need any more help? Should I come with you or do I wait here?” Cris asked because honestly he was a bit worried, what if something bad had actually happened?

“I—yes, I need you to come with me, if you don’t mind. I couldn’t possibly carry Leo alone if he were to lose his consciousness,”

 

.

 

“Leo, open the door, it’s me Paulo,” Paulo knocked loudly. He had rung the bell earlier but no one’s answering the door and Cris could see the younger man was starting to get panicky again. Cris knew it would be useless to tell Paulo to calm down right now, so when Paulo was getting ready break the door open Cris didn’t try to interfere.

Just when Paulo’s about to land a hard kick unto the innocent door, someone with a tired eyes and messy hair opened the door from inside.

“What is it, Paulo?”

But what they were talking about next, Cris honestly couldn’t tell. He was too caught up watching the man in front of him being hugged by Paulo. He was short, shorter than Paulo, but in way that you’d just want to pocket him everywhere and he has the most adorable bed hair Cris had ever seen.

(Trust him, he had seen Sergio with his bed hair but he wanted nothing but to murder the Spaniard because of his and his lover _activities_ that forced Cris to stay wide awake all night.)

“—Cris, hello, are you there?” Paulo waved his hands in front of his face. He snapped up then said, “Sorry, what was that?”

“Cris, it’s the real Leo Messi here. Leo, this is Cris, he’s the new florist next to your parlor,” Paulo introduced them both.

“It’s nice to meet ‘the real’ one, Leo. Gerard had said something about you, that was why I thought Paulo were you earlier,” Cris said with the most charming smile he could manage.

“Hey, um, I’m really sorry for the trouble this guy had caused you, Cris. It’s nice to meet you too. Would you like to come in for a drink?” Leo replied, ignoring Paulo’s protest about he was Leo’s step brother why didn’t Leo invite him in too. Paulo was welcoming himself inside once Cris agreed for the drink though.

 

.

 

Cris was ecstatic. He was lying down on the sofa in his apartment with big smile on his face. He just got back from Leo’s and he realized he was _fucked up_.

When Leo and Paulo had been bickering about _the accident_ , Cris couldn’t concentrate on anything other than how endearing an embarrassed Leo Messi looked like, shyly ducking his face, trying to argue Paulo back.

(Cris wasn’t being creepy and had actually listened to the whole thing. So the reason behind the missed call was that Leo had accidently pressed Paulo’s number second before he dropped his phone into the toilet.— _“It’s hard being temporarily one handed, Paulo,”—_ And he had took a pain killer just before, that was why he went for a nap right after fishing his now dysfunctional phone out.— _“I thought something bad had happened, Leo, you’re being an idiot!”_ )

He also learned that they’re both were Argentinian, but Leo had been living in Barcelona ever since he’s a teenager, and that was it, he knew nothing more. But Cris was determined to know more about the small Argentine, his hobbies, his likes and dislikes, his stories, his tattoos, his _everything_.

But first, he needed to call Gerard.

 

.

 

.

 

Gerard barged into his shop the next day. His call yesterday had gone into the voicemail and he didn’t check his phone again after that, too busy planning the flower arrangement he decided to start ahead. And when he opened his phone this morning, he had found Gerard’s _barbaric_ texts filled his notification.

“Cris, what the hell, dude?” the said man was cringing at how Gerard almost knocked one of his pots.

“I knew I should’ve asked Sese for advice instead,” Cris responded instead of answering Gerard’s question.

“No, hell no, don’t ever ask that man for any advice, especially advice on wooing _my_ Leo,”

“So you’re going to give me any, then?” Cris raised an eyebrow.

“NO,”

“Gerard, come on,” Cris sighed. “I’m _serious_ about him, man. I always thought love at first sight was a mere bedtime story Mãe used to tell me. But then I saw him standing confusedly in the doorway, how easily his cheek reddened and how small his voice was when he’s embarrassed. It was _enchanting_ , Gerard, it really was.”

Gerard went silence by that.

“I just—Cris, I need you to promise me not to ever hurt Leo. If one day you decide to walk out of this, then it’s better if you don’t drag him in too deep right now,” there was something in the way Gerard spoke, a genuine concern, if Cris had to put it into words. He wanted to ask _what_ was _that_ , but he knew better not to, at least not now.

“I’m not planning to walk out that easily, Gerard. You can have my words,” Cris replied, unwavered.

“You better be,” Gerard nodded, hesitation still clear from the way he did that. “And as for advice, I assure you Cris, Leo likes it old-fashioned, that’s all I’m going to tell you,” he continued then left just like that.

Cris knew he shouldn’t turned to the person he was thinking right now, but what Gerard had told him was pretty useless. He could easily bring any women or men he wanted, but there were no feelings, no romance, no roses, nothing. What he knew in his heart that he didn’t want that with Leo and it terrified him because it was all so new to him.

That’s what made him unlocked his phone and went straight to call the number under the name ‘Sergio’.

(Cris didn’t want to call him, but the tattooed Spaniard’s idiocy had successfully lead Iker into his own bed, so might as well give it a try.)

[“Cris, my man, what’s up?”] he heard Sergio’s loud voice greeted him.

“I’m good. How was your business going?”

[“It’s been fucking great. Out of the sudden change that we decided to make it into a café instead of a regular bakery, it’s been so good since last month,”]

“Cool, cool. How’s Iker?”

[“Still lovely, as usual. No, Cris, what is it? You’re not calling me just to ask how was Iker doing, right?”]

Cris stayed silent for a while, searching for the right word so Sergio wouldn’t laugh at him.

“Yeah, listen, Sese. I need your help but first, promise me not to laugh and take it seriously,”

[“Okay,”] Sergio answered, completely puzzled by Cris’ sudden request. [“I’m listening.”]

“I saw someone. Someone I wanted to get serious with. But Gerard told me the said man liked it old-fashioned,” Cris replied, rubbed his face in embarrassment.

Seconds of silence then, [“Baaabe, big guy Ronaldo here is asking me for _love advice_! Told you I’m the best at this romance business!”] that lunatic screamed at the top of his lungs Cris could hear the other man’s satisfied grin splitting his face.

And Cris totally regretted deciding to call the one and only Sergio Ramos.

Sergio laughed for a bit after that. “Are you finished?” Cris sarcastically asked.

[“Cris, listen. Pique’s a boring man, don’t listen to him. Who the hell nowadays liked an ‘old-fashioned’ wooing—“] Sergio’s voice was cut by someone taking his phone away from him.

[“Cris, I’m sorry you have to listen to this idiot for a whole three minutes,”] a different voice sighed, saving Cris from his hopelessness. Well, _the other man_ was called San Iker for no reason.

“Iker, thank God, Sergio didn’t help at all in this situation,” Cris could hear Sergio yelled “Tattletale!” at the background.

[“I’ve heard something about you wanting to ‘woo’ someone. And please, don’t listen to Sergio, old-fashioned romance are always the best, Cris. Take them to coffee dates, to dinner, give them flowers with messages, take it slow and let _feelings_ grow between the two of you, not play with _it_. Make them feel _special_ in your own way,”] Iker explained to him. Cris could still hear Sergio in the background saying something about boring and lame. Clearly stalking and terrorizing were more ‘romantic’ to the tattooed Spaniard.

“I’m afraid I’d fail at this,” Cris responded. All things Iker said were the opposites of what he had done before. Before, it was all about pretty faces and getting laid. Sometimes it lasts but only for a few months, mutual agreement of course. Cris wasn’t an asshole. But now, with Leo, he didn’t want that.

 

.

 

Talking with Iker had honestly helped Cris even just a bit. So now he was on his way to the tattoo parlor beside his shop. “La Ventana del Corazón” the name board read.

Cris didn’t expect to meet Leo, he just wanted to ask Paulo for Leo’s number even though he was sure the older Argentine’s phone hasn’t even been fixed yet. That was why when he saw the man who had occupied his mind since yesterday stood behind the front desk, he almost tripped himself.

Leo raised his face from the book he was reading when the bell rang above Cris, and _shit_ that beautiful surprised face made him weak.

Cris coughed then, “Hey,”

Leo blinked his eyes a few time before replying with the same ‘hey’.

“How’s your hand? Getting better?” Cris attempted to make a small talk.

“I,I still have to take the pills, so not really,” Leo scratched the back of his neck.

Cris nodded at that and felt like dying. If it were Paulo, he could just ask the younger Argentine for Leo’s number. So he asked the easiest question he could think right now to keep the conversation going. “Where’s Paulo? Isn’t he supposed to be the man in charge at the moment?”

Leo didn’t answer right away, he ducked his head away, then, “He’s at the back, re-outlining a customer’s tattoo. If you want to wait for him, you can sit there on the sofa, he’ll be done in a minute, I guess,”

_What? No!_

Cris was just going to say that no, he wasn’t looking for Paulo when the man mentioned appeared from the back door with someone, perhaps the said customer.

“Cris, you’re here!” Paulo greeted him excitedly, “Are you busy now? May I ask you for another favor?” Cris could see Leo tensed a bit at that.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” it was true though, he had finished his job for the day and was waiting for the flowers delivered from Madrid.

“You know Leo’s phone isn’t working right? It have to be fixed ASAP but Leo here is too lazy saying he didn’t need his phone that much. Would you mind take him to repair his phone?”

Cris seriously wanted to say ‘ _hell yes_ ’, but he swallowed it down and went for a calmer, “Oh, sure, not a problem,”

“No, Paulo here was just joking. I’m sorry Cris,” Leo replied with a red face.

“Leo, I agree with Paulo, you have to get your phone fixed. It’s okay, really, I’m not currently busy, so,”

“Good, now go, Leo,” Paulo interfered before Leo could reply while pushing his step brother away from behind the desk.

“I’m really sorry about this, Cris. Please don’t be reticent to say no to Paulo’s weird requests,” Leo said to him once they were outside.

“It’s seriously not a big deal, Leo, trust me,” Cris responded. Then he realized that Leo _probably_ was thinking Cris did this for _Paulo_ , so he wished for the best then continued, “And for the record, I do this for you, Leo. Not entirely because Paulo had asked me too, okay?” he said with a smile, because Leo was the reason, while entering his own car.

What he missed was the way Leo blushed a bit at that before the Argentine followed Cris, slipping into the passenger seat.

 

.

 

They were on their way back to the shop with Leo’s phone as good as new 2 hours later. Cris didn’t want today to end yet, especially when he got the chance, thus for the second time this day he’d just go for it and see what would happen.

“Leo, you busy after this?” Cris asked awkwardly, which gained him Leo’s attention who had been staring outside and fiddling with his phone in hand.

“No, why?”

“There’s this coffee shop I’d like to try, could we go there first?” he replied, glancing towards Leo’s direction for a second.

“I—yeah, sure,” Leo answered while scratching the back of his neck. ‘ _He did that quite frequent, didn’t he_ ,’ Cris thought. But that wasn’t the point, the point was Leo said _yes_ , so went straight ahead to the said coffee shop (and if he actually had visited the coffee shop before, Leo wouldn’t have to know.)

 

 

It was Cris’ favorite place for coffees, the shop was not too crowded, there’s a unique smell of chocolate-coffee mix and the bohemian style coziness somehow reminded him of his home back in Funchal.

After placing their order (he found out Leo was a sweet tooth!), Cris insisted he paid for it because he had been the one who asked to go there. Leo had said no and tried to reach for his wallet but Cris thanked the God for whoever put Leo’s wallet on his right pocket.

“Leo, would you mind if I ask,” Cris asked once they were seated down, gesturing to Leo’s splinted right hand.

Leo casted his eyes down and Cris could see his ears reddened. That made him Cris face palmed silently, afraid he messed this up.

Before he could say something, Leo replied, “Promise me first you wouldn’t laugh at me,” he said firmly, red cheeks still visible.

“I promise,” Cris said with a grin.

Leo adjusted himself in his seat. “It was on a Sunday morning and I was in a hurry to accompany Geri sending off Shak at the airport. It was ridiculous really,” he began.

“I saw my jar of sugar was running out, so I decided to refill it with the ones I have in the cupboard. But Geri had been a dick and thought putting it on the highest shelf was funny.”

Cris could honestly saw where this was going and he couldn’t keep his grin getting wider, clearly amused.

“I didn’t even remember spilling any water on the ground, Cris,” Leo rubbed his face. “Last thing I remember was me trying to reach out my beloved sugar with the help of my rolling chair then the next thing was me lying on the floor and all I saw were red,”

Cris chuckled, earning him a whine from an embarrassed Leo. “You promised me not to laugh,” the Argentine said desperately.

“I’m sorry Leo, but that was hilarious. You know how dangerous it was to stand on a rolling chair, right?” Cris said.

“That was what Paulo had been saying all the way to the hospital,” Leo replied while sipping his dark chocolate mocha. But he silently thanked Paulo for having plan to surprise Leo that day by coming to Barcelona.

They talked a bit after that, about their _actual_ names, hometowns, families, their clearly opposite business, and their hobbies which they have in common and that was football.

“So you think you’re better at football than me?” Cris asked jokingly.

“I’m not putting it that way, but I use to play for my city’s team as a child, and we always win,” Leo replied with a grin, clearly taking part in the joke.

“I played until I was 18, and you were, what, 12 when you stopped playing?”

“You want to test it out?” Leo challenged Cris.

“Game on, Messi,”

Laughter burst out from the two of them, clearly enjoying what they had been talking. Their laughter stopped when Leo noticed Cris staring at his face with a smile he couldn’t put the meaning into any word. What Leo knew, though, he _liked_ that smile on the Portuguese’s face.

Leo smiled in return, dimples appearing on his cheeks.

.

Cris ended up driving Leo back to the Argentine’s apartment. They talked until the sun set. That was also because Paulo had interrupted their conversation in the middle, telling Leo to buy some donuts on the way home.

“I really enjoyed the coffee, Cris, thank you,” Leo said as they arrived in front of the apartment building. “You sure you don’t want to come in?”

“It’s okay, Leo. I still have to take care of my packages, something had gone wrong, I heard,”

Leo nodded at that. Awkward silence fell between them.

“Cris—”

“Leo, I—”

The two of them said a beat second later. They laughed at their awkwardness.

“You first,” Leo said.

“I would like to know, would you like to do this again any time soon?” Cris asked, tapping his fingers unto the steer wheel.

Leo smiled at that. “Yeah, I do, very much, Cris,”

Cris reached for his phone, giving it to Leo then, “Put your number there, so I can call you later,”

So Leo did. He also mentioned about the football match they should do some time later. Cris laughed at that, saying he would beat Leo so bad at that.

They said their goodbyes then Leo proceeded to go inside the building with a smile on his face and Paulo’s donut in his hand.

“Leo! Where’s my donuts?” Paulo greeted him as he entered his apartment. The guy was on the phone with TV on, probably calling the Mario guy.

 “ _Grazie_ , Leo!” Paulo said as he took the box from Leo.

Leo went to the bathroom when he heard Paulo said, “Yeah, he just got back from his date with a certain Portuguese,” with mouth full of donut.

Leo wanted to deny, but he also wanted it to be _real_. He realized then he had developed some kind of attraction towards the taller man. But the thing was, he’s _still_ afraid.

.

After that coffee _date_ , Cris became bolder with his actions and he became less subtle about his intention. It had begun with the texts and late night call, Cris asking Leo on his hand progress, which had been good because soon enough he’d be free of the arm sling. Then random talks about the on-going TV series they were currently watching, about that one ridiculous friend the both of them seemed to have, about their favorite football team— _“See Leo, even your soon to be boyfriend likes Juventus more than lame Bar_ _ç_ _a!”_ —, about that one customer who had asked Paulo to tattoo her ass the other day, about the beautiful wedding Cris was invited to because the bride fell in love with the flowers, and even about trivial, everyday things.

Next were the meetings— _dates_ , Paulo had insisted. They had another coffee meetings, which had been Leo’s recommendation and this time he had prepared his wallet on his left pocket. They had also gone to both fancy restaurant and simple American diner, discussing about how great but fatty those burgers were. They also had the promised football match, and Cris had been surprised by how good Leo actually was with those short foot, especially his tattooed left. Cris had also asked about those works of art on Leo’s skin when they were lying on the ground after their small game.

_“The number 10 was a tribute. There was this man who took care of me like a dear brother when I first came to Barcelona. It was his favorite number. He died on a plane crash on his way back home to Brazil,”_

_“This one,” Leo pointed towards the rose window on his arm, “is the the Sagrada Familia. I love this city, Cris, it’s beauty and the memories I have here,”_

_“What about this, what does this mean?” Cris pointed the all-black on his left calf._

_Leo just smiled, “It was for another time to tell,” he had said with eyes cast down._

The last were the flowers. Cris had used his privilege as a florist and he either gave the flowers directly to the Argentine whenever he got the chance or he ask Paulo to give it to Leo (the younger Argentine had teased him non-stop). Cris’ personal favorites to send were the white hyacinths and pink roses.

_“This is weird, Cris” Leo had said, with a smile he couldn’t resist, the very first time Cris gave him bouquet of beautiful lavender roses._

_“What’s weird? These flowers?”_

_“No, not the flowers. They are beautiful, Cris. I meant this…_ gesture _. I’m not familiar with this. But I love this flowers, I really do,”_

_“Well then, Mister Messi. Let me spoil you with flowers from now on,”_

There were one time Gerard had visited Leo, and he saw the roses on Leo’s windowsill. Gerard visited him afterwards, telling Cris about that with a ‘not bad’ expression on the giant’s face.

BUT, there were still no kisses. Cris being too chivalrous to initiate it and Leo _still_ wasn’t sure. That’s why Geri appeared in front of his door at a warm Tuesday evening.

“Hey Geri, what’s the special occasion?” Leo hugged his gigantic friend and invited him in.

“Leo, what’s up? Everything’s been good?” Geri asked, sitting down on the couch in front of Leo’s TV.

“All good, my hand is getting better, the doctor said I only have to wait for my bones to harden itself, it still hurt but, yeah, better,” Leo explained. “So, what are you up to?”

“How about the thing between you and Ronaldo? Also good?” Geri straightforwardly asked which made Leo choked on his drink.

“I, I don’t know, Geri, what’s with the suddenness?” Leo replied with a burning face.

Geri sighed, he knew it wasn’t his place to force Leo, but he needed to talk to the tattoo artist about _that_ , and he couldn’t believe himself but Geri had finally decided to help Cris out on this because he had _seen_ how serious and sincere Cris’ feeling towards Leo were.

“I’ve known that guy for quite a long time, I used to help him back in Manchester, remember? I know how he _was_ before, only searching for short encounters with pretty strangers, not caring about _feelings_ even once. But what I saw in him now’s the complete opposite, Leo,” Gerard told him. However, without Geri telling him all that, he _knew_ , he _saw_ how Cris had looked at him.

“I know Geri, but there’s still lingering uncertainty in me that makes me believe it’s not easy to _love_ again,” Leo replied, staring at his black-inked left calf blankly.

Geri looked at Leo with a sad knowing smile, then silence fell between the two.

“Leo, don’t let what _she_ did to you define how Cris’ going to treat you,” Paulo decided to walk into the room with his ice cream.

“I’d have to agree with your brother, Leo. He’s right. You will need to decide everything before it’s too late,” Geri agreed with what Paulo had said. “Talk to him about anything you feel _you_ need to,” the gigantic Spaniard continued.

Leo didn’t reply, knowing that they were right.

.

[“How long again have you been _courting_ him, Romeo?”]

“Three months, asshole,” Cris replied with a tired sigh to the voice on the end of the line.

[“Wow, you’re really serious about him, aren’t you?”] Sergio was clearly _amazed_.

“I am, Sese, I am,” Cris said desperately. “But I’m not sure about kissing. Leo always seemed like he didn’t want that and he’s too precious for me to force myself on him,”

[“Then you’ll just have to wait some more,”]

A pause. Then, “Sese, please don’t laugh,” he warned the other man beforehand. “But if he asked me to wait for another life time, I fucking would, man,” the Portuguese said with a tired huff.

Surprisingly, Sergio didn’t laugh. [“That’s for you laughing at me because I’ve 'ridiculously chased after Iker for a whole _year_ ’, Ronaldo,”] Sergio jokingly said then.

[“Listen to me, man. May it takes six months, a year, five years, a decade, if you’re sure he _is_ the one, it will be worth it, trust me on this,”] the tattooed man continued with a smile, _happy_ that his best friend had finally found his own _Iker_ — _“You are disgusting, Ramos,” Iker had said when_ his _stupid man used his name as a metaphor_.

[“Now, shoo, go meet your lion and show him all your love, baby,”] Sergio then hung up the phone.

Cris sighed heavily, not remembering how many times he had done that. He had prepared a bouquet of sunflower for Leo, ‘ _dedicated love’_ it meant. Yet Leo only understand it as a form of showing affection, not the true meaning behind each flowers Cris had given him.

.

Cris arrived a little bit too early and maybe a little bit too overdressed. They had promised to meet at a restaurant near the beach, which was Leo’s favorite sea food place in Barcelona.

He wore a black button-up and a black cloth pants topped by a navy suit jacket, with a sunflower bouquet in one hand, he received a knowing smile from the brunette waitress.

And a few minutes later, Leo entered, looking around the room and finally spotted Cris, dimple appeared on the face Cris adored the most.

“Good evening, Messi. What can I help you with?” Cris greeted Leo playfully.

“I’m supposed to meet someone here, a tall tanned Portuguese man, perhaps you know him?” Leo replied while he took a seat in front of Cris, going along with the florist’s game.

“No, is he handsome though?”

“I’m afraid if I say yes it will only boost his ego to infinity and beyond,” Leo was definitely holding back his laughter at that moment.

“Ah, he was going to give you this beautiful bouquet of sunflowers, but you hurt his feelings,” Cris said with a fake sullen pout. “And did you just quote that American children movie?”

“My childlike brother forced me to watch all three movies in just one day, can’t help it,” Leo shrugged, amused smile still exist.

They ended their small joke right when the same brunette waitress from before approached their table, taking their orders. Leo had been to this place a few times before, so it was no wonder he knew the young lady. And she did give both of them a knowing smile and a wink as she walked away to place their orders.

Also the dinner had gone perfectly, they chatted about how Paulo didn’t want to call someone who didn’t know Toy Story as a brother and other trivial things. Cris decided he’s going to come here more often because the grilled hake was simply the best.

They were walking down the beach after that, the sound of gushing waves and Barcelona’s cool evening breeze accompanying them.

“This flowers are beautiful, Cris. I’ve been wondering, is there any specific meaning behind each flower?” Leo started the conversation, staring at the bouquet in his hand.

Cris took a time to answer Leo, considered about the ‘love’ word. No, it wasn’t the _feeling_ he doubted in, it was what would happen afterward. But then, he said to himself, screw it. He stopped walking, which caused Leo to look up at his face, then grabbed Leo’s hands carefully, minding the injury on his right that was still in progress of healing.

“Yes, each flowers has their own meaning and they’re all different from one another,” Cris said while looking down at those beautiful brown eyes. “This sunflowers right here, for example, they represent adoration and gratitude for the joy someone has brought to another’s life.” Leo ducked his head shyly, clearly not expecting Cris to say that directly to him.

“But the reason I decide to give you this flowers isn’t just that. You know how they need the sun to grow up to their maximum potential, right? They _can_ live without the sun, but they will slowly lose their beauty, become dull colored, their petals, leafs and stem drooping,” the Portuguese took a deep breath. “That’s why sunflowers always turn their faces towards the sun. The sun brings them _life_. And even when the sun didn’t shine for a day, the sunflowers _dedicate_ themselves to wait for the sun rising the next day, because they _need_ it,” he continued and bracing himself for the next thing he was about to say.

“I’m just a dull sunflower before I met my sun, which is you, Leo,” Cris said, trying his best not to let his voice waver.

They both didn’t say anything then, Leo too lost in a pair of brown eyes before him. He wanted to say something, anything. But there was an invisible lump on his throat, not letting his tongue move to form a word. Leo was unbelievably shocked by how _much_ Cris _favored_ him, and happy. There was obvious _happiness_ in him, it made him want to and it was screaming at him to kiss those frowns away from the Portuguese’s handsome face. He only wished the other _thing_ didn’t also make it’s presence in his heart though. The _ugly_ uncertainty and prejudice, about how Cris would end up doing what _she_ had done before, about how he shouldn’t trust _love_ again after what happened.

That was why when he realized Cris was hesitantly leaning into him, looking at Leo for what could only meant _permission_ , Leo ducked his face away and proceeded to circle his hands around Cris’ waist, resting his forehead on the Portuguese’s chest. He could listen Cris’ heart hammering inside.

“I, I’m not the sun, Cris, I could never be. But thank you, I—” Leo said, and Cris could hear the Argentine’s muffled sob.

Cris wasn’t sure what he was _feeling_ at the moment, what was _that_? But he also wanted to defy to what Leo had said. He decided not to after he felt his left shoulder starting to get wet.

“Let’s go home, yeah? You really should use some sleep right now,” Cris asked while hugging back Leo’s smaller figure.

He received a small nod from the Argentine.

.

Cris went home after dropping Leo off in front of the tattooist’s apartment building. He was physically and _mentally_ tired, as well as _confused_. What was Leo trying to tell him? It was too sweet to be rejection at the same time as it was too painful to be acceptance.

But the way he had cried unto Cris’ shoulder was enough to make Cris decide that he wasn’t going to _give up_ yet. He was sure something must’ve happened, making Leo so afraid and unsure of _Cris’_ feeling, of his own feeling.

He took off his clothes, leaving only his briefs on, then threw himself unto his bed. He could feel he was starting to doze off when his phone on the bedside table vibrated loudly. Cris lazily reached out and answered the phone only to have Sergio’s loud voice hurt his beloved hearing.

[“Cris, those sons of bitches are making it harder for us with the flower deliveries,”]

“Huh, what happened, Sese?” Cris slurry reply made Sergio slowly losing his patience.

[“The flower deliveries. They wanted the legal owner here, with complete documents, to make some new contract and agreement shits,”]

Cris groaned at that. “Okay I’ll go as soon as I can. What the hell’s wrong with them though?”

[“People had jokingly said they were hardcore Madridista. Well that’s obviously a bullshit, but I don’t care, all I want is for them to fuck off,”]

“Total bullshit,” Cris chuckled at that. “Thanks anyway, man. I’m tired now, so I’m gonna hang up,”

[“Okay, okay, sleep tight, Aurora,”]

“Her real name’s Briar-Rose,” Cris said as he hung up. All he want right now is a sleep to rest his body and mind.

.

Cris panicked in the morning as he was eating his breakfast. He remembered his conversation with Sergio and cursed loudly.

He looked up for the plane ticket and got the one that would take off at 12. Good, now he had to ask Gerard to take care of CR7 for a few days. Thank God his 3 employees are all responsible person, so he didn’t need to worry too much.

“Gerard, I’m going to Madrid. I don’t know for how long though,” Cris said as Gerard opened the door to his house. He saw Cris with huge luggage on his doorway.

“Okay?”

“I’m not going to be long, I just wanted to ask your help to watch the stuff over at CR7’s while I’m going. That okay? You work from home don’t you?”

“Well, I have no problem with that, but for how long though? Anything I should know then?”

“I don’t know and it’s stressing me out. And no, I think they will be able to do just fine. I’ll send you my password for the access to the online website later. I’m sorry I’m running late, man. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!” Cris said as he gave Gerard a key for his shop and just like that he was gone again with the cab he had arrived by before.

“Babysitting a flower shop? Not a problem,” Gerard mentally patting himself in the back.

 

.

 

Leo honestly envied Paulo.

Yesterday his brother had told him _his boyfriend_ was coming to Barcelona for three days and asked Leo whether the said boyfriend could stay over here.

Leo sort of knew the guy, tall Croatian named Mario, he had met him briefly before, so Leo said yes, as long as there’s no funny business under his roof.

So now he was watching Paulo getting ready to pick his boyfriend up from the airport, the younger Argentine was changing between _the denim jacket which was a gift from Mario_ and _the black leather jacket which was Mario’s_ with serious face. Leo could feel happiness and excitement radiating from Paulo. And he smiled a bit at his brother weirdness.

“Just go with the denim, Paulo,” Leo advised.

“You sure? Well okay then,” the younger Argentine replied with a serious nod.

 

.

 

Leo was just finished tidying up his apartment. He had done that to distract his mind from a certain florist. It was almost midday already, but there was no single text from Cris and he felt guilty, after all it had been Leo who rejected Cris at the first place.

So he decided to go to his tattoo place, who knew maybe he would ‘accidentally’ met Cris, arranging his flower displays or watering his pots outside.

But when he arrived, he didn’t catch any sight of Cris outside. He thought maybe the Portuguese was inside. Leo hesitated, thinking about how awkward it would be for him to just walk in as if he didn’t hurt the other man’s feeling just the day before.  He desperately wanted to apologize, to actually _explain_ , but he thought Cris may not want to see him right now, based on how there was no usual ‘good morning’ text from the florist.

Just as Leo about to turn towards his shop, Geri jogged out of CR7’s while calling his name. “Leo! Hey man,”

“Uh- Hi, Geri. D-did you just see Cris?” Leo asked, knowing he sounded stupid.

Geri frowned at that, completely puzzled. “Cris didn’t tell you anything about Madrid?”

Leo shook his head slowly.

“Wha- He went to the airport this morning, Leo. He was in a rush when he came to my house, asked me to babysit his flower shop,” Geri explained. Leo was surprised to hear that, Cris didn’t tell him _anything_ about going to Madrid yesterday so it must’ve been a last minute plan.

“-eo, Leo! Hey, you okay man? How about going inside first?” Geri waved his hand in front of Leo’s face, snapped him out of his shock. The giant Spaniard guided Leo towards the shop, into the back door which was Cris’ personal office. Leo had been here before, he loved the odd Scandinavian touch of this place, with white and light brown dominating the room.

“Something clearly happened, right?” Geri said as he closed the white door behind him. Leo sat himself on the beanbag in front of Cris’ working desk. Geri was starting to blame Cris that got Leo cut the Spaniard mid-sentence with a firm no, and he continued telling Geri _everything_.

Geri went silent, especially when Leo started to wet his face with his own tears. He knew in this case, Leo was _wrong_ for not telling Cris what the Portuguese deserved to know, but he also knew it wasn’t entirely Leo’s fault. Leo was a very committed person, once he love someone, he loves them like nothing else matter because what he saw in someone was beyond mere ‘imperfection’ but so much more, the _stories_ behind each scar, the _memories_ , good or bad; Leo saw it as a _wonder_.

That’s why when _she_ left Leo for no reason, the Argentine found it hard to believe in love, in himself ever again. He started blaming himself, saying he _wasn’t_ good enough, that it was his fault she had left.

And then Cris came barging into his life out of nowhere, with that cocky confidence but also delicate sincerity, and Leo started to _heal_.

“Leo, do you _love_ him?” Geri asked him carefully. Leo nodded without hesitation while hiding his face in his arms.

“Then tell him Leo, because I know he does too. He wouldn’t just back away like that, I’m sure there’s a reason but anything beside giving up on his _feeling_ ,”

“But he’s in Madrid, Geri. What can I do now? I—”

“Then go, go now. I’ll call Sergio, he will pick you up there, and you go _talk_ to Cris,” Geri decided, turning his laptop on and booked Leo a flight at 3, didn’t give the Argentine a chance to reply.

Leo knew Sergio, Cris had always talk about how much of a big idiot that guy was, but he could hear playfulness and _gratitude_ in the Portuguese’s voice at the same time.

.

Here Leo was now, in Madrid airport, waiting for a ‘tattooed tall man who dress like he was going to the Fashion Week’ to pick him up—courtesy of Geri.

Right after that conversation with Geri, Paulo called him about having seen Cris on the airport. Leo replied with an I know and asked Paulo to watch over both his house and tattoo shop for a few days because he’s going to Madrid too. And still, no funny business allowed under his roof.

“Leo Messi?” a man with an Armani long coat approached him. This must be the famous Sergio Ramos, he thought.

“Yes?”

“Hey, it’s nice to finally meet the real you. Sergio Ramos, at your service,” the man said jokingly while offering Leo his hand. Leo smiled a little at that and took Ramos’ hand.

“C’mon, the car’s this way,”

Once inside the car, Ramos turned the radio on with high volume. Leo silently thanked God it wasn’t heavy metal music.

“You want me to drive you to Cris’?” Ramos asked. Leo hesitated, he wanted to say yes but at the same time he’s still unsure about seeing the Portuguese.

“Cris misses you, you know? His place, okay?” Ramos said again after Leo didn’t answer.

Sergio knew about what happened, at least he was able to connect the dots. When Gerard called him about Leo coming to Madrid, it just clicked. Cris had told him about Leo’s hesitation, but Cris also told him that he’s determined to make Leo _trust_ him. Then Gerard called about Leo wanting to see- to talk to Cris, about how the Argentine felt he had taken Cris for granted. Sergio had laughed, they are _so_ in love. He explained his ‘theory’ to Gerard and decided not to tell them anything.

Leo then slowly nodded at Ramos’ words. _Cris missed him_. That alone was enough to bring warmth into Leo’s chest.

After a 30 minutes of driving, they finally arrived in front of Cris’ Madrid house. It was a minimalistic modern two-story house, the design was really similar with the florist’s apartment in Barcelona.

Ramos entered without ringing the bell, barged in like he owned the house. That made Leo wasn’t sure on whether he should follow the Spaniard.

“C’mon, he’s in the dining room,” Ramos gestured Leo to follow him.

“Romeo, I’m here to deliver you a package!”

“What the hell, Sese?! No yelling inside the house!” Cris voice could be heard from further inside the house.

“Yup, there he is. I’m off okay, Leo? The food ain’t going to cook itself, ciao!” and just like that, Ramos was gone behind the closed front door, leaving Leo standing there like an idiot, with black duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

Leo could hear footsteps approaching, and he braced himself for anger, disappointment, _anything_ , to be directed to him.

“Sese, wha—Leo?” Cris stopped short when he saw the Argentine standing there with eyes closed and hands grasping one another so tight. Leo didn’t answer, though. A few seconds passed when Leo suddenly felt his body crushed into Cris’ in a tight embrace, the Portuguese’s arms circled on his waist and nose buried in Leo’s hair.

Leo opened his eyes in shock. Then next second he felt his eyes getting warm, he carefully wrapped his hand around Cris’ neck then buried his face on the other man’s chest.

Cris felt his shirt getting wet, lifted his head up from the comfort of Leo’s scent and stared at the hidden face in front of him. “Leo, what’s wrong? Look at me, Leo,” he cupped his hands on the tattooist’s face, lifting it slowly.

“I’m sorry, I-” Leo tried to say. “I love you, Cris,”

And Cris thought his ears was playing with him. He stared at the teary big brown eyes in front of him, it hurt to see those eyes shedding tears, but he found nothing but honesty in it.

“I don’t deserve your patience, yet you still wait for me. I hurt you, yet you still hold me with such gentleness,” Leo said between his tears. “So before I completely lose you, I want you to know my feelings,” he continued, sliding his hands away Cris’ neck.

“No, Leo, no. You’re not going to _lose_ me and I’m not going to let you go that easily,” Cris replied with clear confusion. “Explain to me, Leo,” Cris said, while carefully taking Leo’s sling duffle bag off and guided the tattooist to sit down.

“I always give you unsure answer, never actually told you about what I really feel. I feel _loved_ by you. But something inside always told me that one day you’ll leave, and then we’ll be complete strangers once again. I’m afraid of it Cris, that was why I didn’t want to _feel_ anything at first. Now, it was different. You broke my walls, and it was honestly surprising, but beautiful, _but_ also terrifying,” Leo said as he stared into his jeans covered left calf.

“It was the _story_ behind the all-black ink in your leg, wasn’t it?” Cris asked carefully, reaching for Leo’s hand and taking it into his hand. Leo went silent for a few seconds.

“She was _everything_ , Cris. She had been my childhood memory, my first love and my dearest friend. We came to Barcelona together, went through all ups and downs together. I used to look at her and I remembered home, I remembered warm breeze of Argentina because we both came from there. I thought we were going to be in love forever. Turned out she stopped feeling the same thing as I did the day I already prepared the most beautiful diamond I can find,” Leo finally told Cris.

And all Cris could see at that exact moment was red. But he controlled his anger for Leo, finally knowing what the man in front of him was _afraid_ of.

“Leo, listen to me, would you,” Cris said, wiping those tears away from Leo’s face. “I’m Cristiano Ronaldo, will never back off from his words. And I’m going to say it now, I love you and I’ll love you until you’re sick of me. I’m not planning to give up on you, not soon, not later, not _ever_. You trust me, okay?”

“I trust you,” Leo replied with no more hesitation.

“Good. Can I kiss you?” Cris asked.

Leo smiled at that then the tattooist nodded his head slowly. Cris smiled back, leaned in, slowly, until he could feel Leo’s soft lips on his. It was a slow, full of affection first kiss. Cris devoured Leo’s lower lip, that made Leo moan slowly. The Argentine then wrapped his hands around Cris’ neck to deepen their kiss. Just as their tongues about to get involved, there was loud knock on the door and Sergio’s face peeking through the window.

Cris groaned in annoyance and Leo chuckled shyly, hiding his face on Cris’ neck.

“Can I come in now?” Sergio yelled from outside. “I got food!” he continued while showing them a plastic bag, probably something from his café.

“Ay, you may continue eating each other’s face out later. I got back to the café just to finish up for the day. But first, special occasion, Mister Leo, try this, the best Ham and Cheese Panini in the world, made by me,” Sergio casually walked in.

Cris rubbed his face in desperation while Leo just laughed and thanked Sergio.

.

“So you had thought I’ll never go back to Barcelona ever again?” Cris said as they’re laying down on Cris’ bed.

Sergio had been right about those Panini, it was the best Leo had ever tasted.

“Don’t laugh at me, but yes,” Leo replied as he hid his face on Cris’ neck. Seemed like it was officially Leo’s new favorite place to hide.

“You do love me, _meu amor_ ,”

“I do, bighead,”

“Yeah? Good. Because I do love you too,”

 

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR READING GUYS!
> 
>  
> 
> i really love them both y'all i really do, in real life as real person TAT  
> and i'll always hope for the best for both of them. me love aint going to be erased that easily uwu


End file.
